


The Broken Computer

by Strength_in_pain



Series: In-between Time [1]
Category: The Goldfinch (2019), The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Boris and Theo, Boris and Theo get drunk, Corporal Punishment, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sleepy Cuddles, Swearing, The Goldfinch, Xandra is angry, kids in trouble, um it’s the goldfinch so everything is a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21560851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: This time I was prepared so there was no excuse for me to miss the fat orange that Boris threw in my direction, but I did. Thanks to my horrible hand-eye coordination, the orange smashed directly into Xandra’s laptop, snapping the top completely off.ORTheo and Boris are hyper 13/15 year old boys and they accidentally break Xandra’s laptop leading to one of the “great (worse) nights of their lives.”
Relationships: Boris Pavlikovsky & Theo Decker, Theodore Decker & Boris Pavlikovsky, Theodore Decker/Boris Pavlikovsky, Xandra/Larry
Series: In-between Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1562089
Comments: 8
Kudos: 104





	The Broken Computer

**Author's Note:**

> Finally!!! I’ve been wanting to write a Goldfinch story for over 2 months now and I have a million ideas but this is the first one I could finally get on the page. Hopefully you guys like it :) 
> 
> So quick disclaimer: if you haven’t seen the Goldfinch or read the Goldfinch book then this might be slightly confusing. But I tried to base it off of both the book and the movie. If you notice anything similar to the book and movie feel free to comment it down below. :)

“A a a a!” Boris screamed again, running as fast as humanly possible through my kitchen. I was sitting on the kitchen stool typing feverishly on Xandra’s laptop. I wasn’t allowed to use it without Xandra’s permission but this TV commercial promised to deliver free pizza absolutely anywhere (even Canyon Shadows in the desert of Las Vegas) for one whole year as long as we log into their website and answer 3 trivia questions correctly. It was perfectly tempting, and I fell for it. 

Boris - already drunk on three beers - was extremely hyper. He was in the mood to play basketball, an extremely rare thing for Boris, but he was reading about Kobe Bryant in a magazine in Xandra’s room which got him in the mood. That’s another thing - Xandra’s room was completely off limits, but her laptop was in there. It’s not like I wanted to snoop around in her things: glittery nail polish, puffy green bedspread, stacks of Glamour Magazines. Not much worth seeing, but I saw it all. When I dug around in Xandra’s drawer to grab the laptop, I saw something that made me gag. So in reality, I was more scarred from going into her room than she would ever be. 

“Catch!” Before I even had a chance to look up Boris had thrown a bag of chips at my face. 

“Fucker!” I screamed, throwing it back at him. He didn’t catch it, and it smashed into the counter, knocking over the magazines piled there. 

“Bad aim Potter. Try again.” 

This time I was prepared so there was no excuse for me to miss the fat orange that Boris threw in my direction, but I did. Thanks to my horrible hand-eye coordination, the orange smashed directly into Xandra’s laptop, snapping the top completely off. 

Boris and I stared at the broken sacred possession with our mouths dropped open for a long while. 

“Oh shit.” I said after a moment, terror seized my body. I had no idea I was shaking so bad, until Boris laid a steady hand on my shoulder. 

“Potter... I’m so sorry.” Boris said making his way over to inspect the damage. There was no use, I knew right away, it was broken in half. No amount of BestBuy’s geek squad was going to fix that. 

He gulped and looked at me with dark worried eyes. “Will she be mad?”

I laughed. I had too. Because fuck of course she would be mad. I wasn’t supposed to be in her room; I wasn’t supposed to touch her laptop, and I sure as hell wasn’t supposed to break it. But what could I do now? I had broken it and now she was going to bite my head off. Part of me was curious however just what Xandra would do to me. I wasn’t her kid. She wasn’t even married to my Dad. If she has the nerve to even try and punish me... 

The thought made my blood boil. My fists balled up at my sides. If she tried to play the ‘mother’ card and scold me or something I swear to God -

“Potter!” Boris shook my shoulders. “You’re pale as a sheet. Look, Is okay. I will fix. Promise I will fix.”

“You can’t fix the laptop Boris!” I shouted, now feeling a sense of panic. God, what if she convinced my Dad to get rid of me. She could do that, it’s no secret my Dad is inconvenienced by my stay. What if the Barbours don’t want me back? Then where would I go? 

“Then I will take the blame. Was my fault. I threw the orange.” Boris said. 

I shook my head, standing on wobbly legs. “We need to go.”

“Go where?”

“Anywhere. Let’s run to your house.”

“Ah, my Dad is home.”

“The park, then.”

“It will be hot too sleep there. Could get heat stroke.”

“We won’t stay all night. Just till Xandra and my Dad cool down.”

Without further conversation, Boris and I took off for the park and stayed for hours drinking, talking, and swinging. At first it was too difficult to even break out a smile, but by our third beer we were hunched on the gravel laughing out asses off. I felt vaguely sorry that I left Popper at home. He was a huge source of our entertainment when we got drunk, but also I worried that by leaving him at home, Xandra was somehow taking her anger out on him. I tried to push that thought from my mind, reminding myself that I might not like Xandra but she’s not a dog abuser. 

By the time the sun went down we were so wasted that the walk home was extremely blurry and confusing. It took us a while to find my house, but at last, we made it. 

The door creaked open and Boris and I realized it was very dim inside. Maybe no one was home and we lucked out. 

Then a bright light blared in our eyes, causing us both to wince. I realized, a moment later, the lamp had been turned on by Xandra. 

“There you are!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. 

I physically jumped out of my skin, shivering from head to toe. The beer in my stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot and I was sure I was going to puke. Boris was standing like an ice statue next to me. I wondered if he was too drunk to even know what was going on. 

“Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is? Jesus Christ! I came home to find the front door swung wide open. I thought someone kidnapped you. Then I found my broken laptop and realized you just took off. Still, what the hell was I supposed to do? Call your Dad? No fucking way, because then he would be pissed at _me_. As if I did something to make you run away.” She scoffed in a disgusted manner, “Should I have called the cops? Yeah, great idea. And tell them what?! That I can’t keep track of my boyfriends kid! I mean, you’re not even fucking mine so what would the fucking cops do. I’ll tell you what they would do. They’d say, wait 48 hours and then report him.”

She slapped her hand against the kitchen table. “So I spent four fucking hours walking the streets screaming your mother fucking name until my voice gave out.” 

Her voice was certainly back now. 

“You have no idea how worried I was.” She stopped talking, as if admitting that last part was a sin. Dead silence fell upon the room. 

She stared at us for a while. We stared blankly back at her. 

I could see the rage continuing to build up inside her as she staggered towards me very slowly. 

I took a step back. It never occurred to me until this very moment that I should be afraid of Xandra - that she might physically hurt me. But the way she was towering over me with veins popping out of her neck and hands shaking at her side, I realized it was valid fear I should have thought of all along. 

“I’m sorry.” It came out weak and hoarse, but it was as truthful as I could be. I was sorry I broke her laptop. I was sorry I went into her room. But what could I do now? 

“You’re sorry?” I winced at her tone. “Yeah I bet you are. But you know what, Kid? Sorry doesn’t get me a new mother fucking laptop!” She grabbed my wrist in a vice like grip. I flinched, trying to free myself, but she held on tight. 

“Het! Xandra, no need for bad temper, he is sorry.” Boris tried to pull her arm away from mine. 

She turned towards him violently, releasing my bruised wrist in the process. I cradled the injured arm to my chest, worried eyes watching Xandra approach Boris. 

“Go upstairs and get to bed.” She said lowly. 

I didn’t need to be told twice. Grabbing Boris by the arm I tugged him upstairs behind me. We spent a long time in silence, changing out of our clothes together and turning on the shower. Boris and I were used to doing everything together at this point, including showers. When we finished we got dressed in our comfortable sweatpants. Or, I should say, my comfortable sweatpants that Boris always wore, we climbed under the covers of my bed. 

“am sorry.” Boris whispered to me, finally saying something after 20 minutes of silence. I thought he was mad at me for getting him yelled at and that’s why he wasn’t talking. But his confession opened my eyes to see he was feeling guilty for getting me in trouble, not angry. 

“It’s not your fault.” I told him. Even if it was his fault for breaking the laptop, it had been my fault for grabbing the computer out of Xandra’s room in the first place. 

“I asked for it.” I said, turning my head on the white pillow so I was facing him. Boris looked at me with sad eyes. 

“Don’t like you in trouble, Potter.”

I shrugged. “Not a big deal. It happens.” But truth was, I hadn’t been in trouble or done anything to anger them in the short time that I had been there, so I had no idea what to expect. 

The door opened to our dark bedroom revealing a sliver of light. Xandra’s blonde hair could be seen from the door. She walked in and stood at the side of our bed. 

Boris and I sat up, blinking sleepily at her silhouette. Before I had a chance to ask anything, another figure walked in my room. 

“You went inside our room today?” It was my Dad’s voice, I could recognize it anywhere. “And stole Xandra’s laptop?”

“I didn’t steal it -” 

I probably shouldn’t have said anything. My Dad’s hands were around the collar of my shirt, and I felt myself being lifted out of the covers and onto the floor beside him in a flash. 

I felt Boris’s eyes on me, but I didn’t want to turn around. I didn’t want him to see my scared face. 

“Did you take anything else from there!?” My Dad shook me violently. “Answer me, Theo!”

“No.” I whimpered. I couldn’t help it, he was fucking scary when he was angry. He reminded me of Boris’s Dad. A fearful thought flashed through my mind, but I pushed it back, trying to convince myself he wouldn’t beat me like Boris’s father would. 

“That room has valuable stuff in it. You are NOT allowed inside for a reason. Don’t you ever disobey me like that again.”

Maybe I was still a little drunk from our evening in the park - but I swore my father was growing in size, like an inflatable balloon filling with air. His muscles like Popeyes as he raised his hand back. I heard it before I felt it. A loud thudding sound. His hand beating against my sweatpants. It didn’t stop at one, and soon the feeling was catching up to the sound. 

“Ow!” I cried when the dull, aching pain registered. 

I turned back to see him raise his hand again, and flinched, expecting more to follow, but my father had stopped. 

“ Zatrzymać ” That was Boris. I turned around to see him clutching my Father’s arm, stopping him from hitting me. 

“No more.” Boris said on my behalf. 

“Get off, little Ruski. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Was my fault.” 

Boris probably shouldn’t have said that. My Dad released his grip on my arm in order to hold Boris down. 

“Don’t you dare!” I shouted - but it was too late. 

Now Boris had been beaten with a cane before, so a simple ass beating really shouldn’t bother him, and it didn’t. But I was still pissed watching my friend endure it on my behalf. 

“Fuck you.” I said to my Dad after he had finished. 

I was glad I said It. I wouldn’t have even cared if my Dad turned and whacked me across the face. I was so livid with anger I could feel myself trembling. 

Boris hadn’t moved to get up. His submissive nature to taking beatings upset me greatly. It’s like he just expected people to use his body to get out their aggressions. He reminded very still, even after my father went to the other side of the room where Xandra had been standing. 

“If you go in my room again, I’m taking the door to your room. And you can forget about fucking privacy, got it?”

Boris’s shoulder’s were shaking. 

“You hurt him. YOU HURT HIM.” I lunged towards Boris, sitting on the side of the bed to whisper in his ear. 

“Are you okay?” My voice was thick, a lump deep within my throat. 

“Boris?” 

He had his eyes squeezed tight but a smile dance across his face. “Ah, I am fine. Don’t be a baby Potter.” 

I shot a glare back at my father. 

“Maybe you should stay out of my room and this won’t happen.”

Xandra cleared her throat. 

“What?” Dad asked, irritated. 

She scoffed. “It was MY laptop he broke. Punish them for that dammit. Not just going in _our_ room.”

“Fine -“ Dad stormed towards me and I scooted my butt back on the bed until I hit the headboard. “No no no.” I held my hands in front of my face. 

“Don’t hit ‘em. Jesus.” Xandra yelled. 

“You just said -“

“I just wanted you to tell them not to touch my laptop.”

“What the fuck ever.” Dad screamed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does or they might do it again.”

“They won’t do it again, because they won’t go in our room again. Keep your shit in our room and they won’t touch it.”

Xandra put her hands on her hips. “You should go to our room since your in fucking love with it. And by the way, it’s _my_ room. Cause this is MY house.”

“Oh don’t start with me! I swear to God Xandra -“

Dad and Xandra left our room with a slam of the door. Everything was pitch black, and 

I couldn’t see Boris but I could hear his soft, quick breathing. 

“Boris? Are you alright?” I blindly reached out to touch him, but felt the bedspread instead. “Boris?”

Finally my hands felt his hair and I give him the strongest hug I could. 

“Sorry.” He said quietly, I felt him shift and sit up before scooting under the covers properly. “Reminded me of very bad times with my own Dad. I don’t like being held down.”

I wasn’t sure if I should press on the subject or not. “What happened?”

“Ah, no big deal. Was a long time ago.” 

“I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have - my Dad shouldn’t have hit you. God. That’s so unfair. I’m so so -“

“Relax Potter. It does not matter to me. I am just glad you are okay. They had me worried for second.” 

Boris wasn’t mad at me. I let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” He said with a laugh. “And go to sleep.”

“If I had money I’d pay for a new laptop. Really, I would.”

“Mhm.” Boris mumbled into my neck. 

“I wish I could make it up to her because I really didn’t mean to -“

Boris clapped his hand over my mouth, “byly sobie kotki dwa. A-a-a, kotki dwa, szarobure—”

I knew that song, Boris taught it to me before. “Oh, sleep, my darling,

And I’ll give you a star from the sky,

All the children are fast asleep

All others, even the bad ones,

All children are sleeping but you.

A-a-a, a-a-a—

There once were two small kittens—“ 

**Author's Note:**

> So quick disclaimer: if you haven’t seen the Goldfinch or read the Goldfinch book then this might be slightly confusing. But I tried to base it off of both the book and the movie. If you notice anything similar to the book and movie feel free to comment it down below. :)


End file.
